Eliza

"Was it not enough me practically begging my mom to let you stay here?" I shout, as I fling the door open to see him laying on the bed, throwing up a tub of hair gel into the air, and catching it.

Alarm registers all over his face, as his body instantly springs up.

"What?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I continue, ensuring there is no pause between my words to give him the chance to respond. "My mom didn't have to agree to you staying here, but I convinced her to because I thought you would actually appreciate it, despite your constant uncalled for disrespect. Yet you decide to repay her by stealing her most expensive bracelet?"

"What are you talking about? Olivia said she took it." He is now standing up, his eyes boring into mine.

"Yeah, to save your pathetic ass. Because she knew you did it. Unlike you, she actually has respect for people and she would never deliberately go into my mother's room and take something that belongs to her." My voice seems to go higher with every word, and I find myself catching up on missed breaths at the end of my speech.

"And you think I would? Eliza, I don't know what you're talking about but I did not steal your mom's bracelet. What would Olivia need to save me from?"

"She knew my mom was about to kick you out, and she knew it would upset me so she said it was her so you could stay. But what I want to know is why you would do that. If you want something, you should ask for it."

"Eliza. I did not take your mother's bracelet."

"Then who did? The ghost of the house?"

"I don't know, but I promise you it wasn't me. Why would I do that? Why would I risk everything I have right now, everything I am right now? I know it's not a lot, but I actually have a bed to sleep in now, and that's more than I could say this time last week. Why would I risk that on a bracelet, when I know that I would get caught anyway?" This time his voice is raised, his words penetrating into my brain all the more effectively.

"You tell me."

"I can't tell you, because I didn't do it. Eliza, I am grateful for what you have done for me. I am so grateful. I know I've barely said it but you don't understand the gratitude in my heart I feel for you, you honestly don't. Nobody's ever given me a chance like you have. Nobody. And I would never do anything to jeopardise my position right now. I would never do anything to make you feel any less of me than you did when, like you said, you begged your mom to let me stay."

My throat closes up at his unexpected speech. I didn't realise something so... Pure could come out of his mouth, which unwillingly makes me all the more conflicted on my feelings towards him.

"But it still doesn't make sense. Olivia said she didn't do it, and I know she wouldn't lie to me, especially when it's serious."

"So you don't trust me," he states blandly, but I can hear the sting behind his tone.

"I don't know you, Theo. And you don't exactly make it easy for me. You say things like what you just said but you're rude all the time, you're so closed off and you're always being so contradictory. One minute you're looking at me like, like... Like there's something there. And then the next you're slamming the door in my face and I don't understand why. I don't understand you, Theo. I just want you to-"

My mouth struggles to release any more words as it feels Theo's lips pound against it. My eyes widen in my absolute shock and fear at him kissing me, and at me reciprocating it.

My heart falters and rises with every burning breath as our lips free from each other. A similar passionate look is exchanged together in the momentary silence that ensues.

"What-" I begin, but my words fail to catch up to my heavy breath. "What... Was that?" I finally manage to say.

"I don't know." My heart rises more than ever at this point, completely not expecting the response I receive.

"You don't... Know?" I bring myself to ask, desperate for an answer. But his lack of attempt in producing words from the same mouth he just used to kiss me causes me to turn on my heels and walk away. I hear a brief movement, and the word "wait" pricks into my ear, as my right arm becomes in competition with a stronger force.

"Get off of me, Theo," I retort bitterly. My patience couldn't possibly be any thinner.

"I lied, I do know. I do know what that was. I kissed you."

"Yeah, I think I realised that when you-"

"Because I like you."

The pouring rain that has penetrated the window in the room becomes extinct to my ears, as Theo's words repeat themselves to me continuously. The words that swirl around in my brain and cause my throbbing vein to stop in its tracks. The words that make my lips long for the savoury taste of his more than they ever have in these past few days. The words that make my pounding heartbeat resolve to a steady melody.

Yet again, there is an unspeakable commitment between us, as I am stuck with the choice of whether I should tell him how I really feel, or actually reject him for real this time.

"What do you mean you like me?" I stupidly ask, knowing completely well how he means it.

"How else could I mean it? I like you, Eliza. I like you. I feel like... You like me too. I mean, you just kissed me too right?"

My intense desire to answer his question is overruled by my own question that hasn't stopped pestering my mind.

"Did you steal my mom's bracelet?"

"I told you I didn't."

"Please just tell the truth, Theo. I won't be angry."

"So even when I go out of my way to try and convince you that I didn't do it, you still won't believe me?"

"Well who else could it have been Theo? It had to have been you."

"Why, because I'm a dirty tramp?" The only note I depict in his voice is pain, which leads to my throat welling up surprisingly.

"No, I didn't mean it like that."

"Yes you did. Just out of curiosity, what do you think I would do with that bracelet? Sell it and get a bunch of money, which I would spend some of on an expensive watch, that I would wear here, because that wouldn't be suspicious at all?"

"I'm sorry, I just don't understand how it can be taken out of her room, and placed in yours."

"I don't understand either. But it wasn't me. I might be trash in your eyes but I am not a thief."

"You're not trash, Theo."

"Well, then I'm just a homeless boy that you feel for, and that's why you won't kick me out. Right?" My lack of response causes him to continue. "I just told you I like you. And you accused me of stealing from your mom."

"Theo-"

"Remember the other day when we first met? And I told you that you're a spoilt brat that doesn't like taking no for an answer? I doubted that statement these past few days, but I was so right wasn't I?"

"No, you-"

"You're a high maintenance bitch, that thinks she's better than everyone."

"You can't make them judgments Theo, you don't know me."

"I've lived with you for a few days and all I can say I've gotten from it is an accusation of stealing an expensive piece of jewellery that you bought for your mother, which you probably showed off to all your little friends about. And when you heard it went missing, you got a little upset that all your little friends would think you're not oh so little miss princess anymore. Were you about to run to daddy and beg him to put a couple grand in your account so you can stunt in front of all your friends to regain your status as miss rich girl?"

"That is not true at all," I begin, tears forming at the corner of my eyes. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"Oh, I know exactly what I'm talking ab-"

"No, you don't!" I shout. This time it's my turn to cut him off. "My dad left me and my mother five years ago, leaving her to care for me on her own. He got a new family with children he actually stuck around for, and as for the money - in case you don't know, I donate to charities every single month. But of course you wouldn't know about it, nobody knows about it because I don't brag about it. I don't brag about how much money I have because money isn't everything. And if I could give all my money away to people who need it more than me, I would do it in a heartbeat. I may have expensive things, and buy expensive things but my heart is not cheap. I care for people, I care for the world and what kind of a person would I be if I only used my money on my own materialistic gain? You don't know me at all, Theo. You don't know me because you think I'm spoilt, but I'm not because I spend more money on other people than I do on myself; I value helping people and making them feel good, because it makes me feel good. That's why I wanted you here, to make you feel good. I'm not just some cold hearted bitch, and I'll be damned if I ever let you judge me on a pre-basis when you have no idea who the hell I am." A teardrop spills to the floor from my cheek, signifying to me that my speech is over. The shocked look on Theo's face resembles my surprise at my sudden outburst.

I don't give him the opportunity to voice his feelings as I hurry out the room, leaving his still body behind. I crush my door against its frame in a rage, leaning against it as I burst into a fury of tears.

Theo

My eyes squint as if I am looking for something specifically. Maybe I am. My conduct, for example. The moment Eliza began her mind blowing tirade of being so charitable and me not actually knowing her, a revelation poured through my blood. I thought something was missing in her all this time - well, other than trust. But, her reprimand of me brought me to the actual fact that I'm the one that's lacking something. Value. I've spent so much time pre-judging and criticising the only person who has managed to give me the time of the day, resulting in me placing absolutely no value in her whatsoever. I don't value her. I don't respect her. I feel gratitude towards her, but that is merely for her giving me a place to sleep at night. I can stay as mute as a button when it comes to her mother, yet with the actual girl that I have managed to develop feelings I don't even understand for, I struggle to have a full conversation with her without insulting her in the process. It's almost like it's easy to present the ultimate disrespect to people you actually care about. And I do. I care about her. But I don't respect her.

Because I don't respect myself.

My mouth is deprived from having a filter; I am so used to spouting the most horrendous sentences that it has become my life. Who I am. I have become so used to being treated like a speck of dust from a chimney sweep that I don't know how to appreciate an act of kindness from a human being, without thinking there is an agenda. Whether I understand why or not, Eliza has come into my life at a time when I didn't think there would be much of a life for me, and she is the only person in my life that is actually capable of evoking opposing feelings to anger and pain. That brief moment when my lips brushed against hers, I felt elation. A word I didn't even remember existed in the dictionary until now. Anger has become the blood that travels through my body, and it seems almost impossible for me to bleed it all out. But I need to. Because I need Eliza. I can't miss the chance of keeping somebody who genuinely cares about me - even though I give them little reason to - for a lifetime of lonesome and existentialism. I can't miss Eliza.

I sit on the bed, and throw my head into my palms, mentally abusing myself. An abundance of fears course through my brain: have I ruined a chance that we possible could have had? What if Rosanne finds out? I'll surely get thrown out then. What happens now?

I take my pride out of my gut and proceed to Eliza's room, but find myself knocking a countless number of times before she finally commands "leave me alone."

"I just want to talk. No arguing."

"And I just want you to leave me alone."

My ears register the sound of the front door from downstairs, high heels clicking against the floor.

"Eliza, could you come down here for a second please!" Rosanne shouts. I remain my posture by the door, as it quickly opens. Eliza sends a brief look of pain towards me, leading me to notice her puffy eyes, and pale face. She's been crying.

"Eliza-"

"Please move from my door," she says as she closes it behind her and walks past me. My legs can't bring themselves to budge, almost as if I am waiting for her to return and agree to offer to talk.

The loud voices from downstairs are all that enter my ear. An enthusiastic "oh my gosh, hi,' coming from Eliza haunts my eardrums, and I get the unbeatable urge to go downstairs and see who has caused her voice to go up three degrees. I waste no time in heading down the stairs, mentally telling myself to pretend I'm just coming for a bottle of water. My body spins into the kitchen, as not only my ears are haunted, but now my eyes become haunted by the sight in front of me.

Eliza is embracing in a questionably long hug with a guy whose slicked hair would give David Beckham a run for his money. I stand there awkwardly, as I realise in order to get to the fridge, I would need to pass them.

They release each other from their evidently suffocating hug, where the presence of Rosanne becomes noticeable to me, as does mine for her.

"Theo, what are you doing here?"

Eliza and her male companion collectively look at me, and I scoff quietly under my breath. "I just came to get some water," I say, my voice taking a surprisingly croaky tone. "Is that alright?" I add.

"Oh come on Theo, who am I to stop you from getting water? I'm not a monster," Rosanne retorts, but she doesn't even attempt to disguise the sarcasm in her voice. I walk between the two silent figures, and open the door of the fridge, trying to buy some time to figure out who the boy is.

"By the way, Theo. This is Cooper, Eliza's ex boyfriend," Rosanne announces with a Chesire cat smile on her face, and a palm rubbing against Cooper's arm. Well then. That didn't take long.

I subconsciously decide that now would be a good time to clear my throat, but it comes out louder than I anticipated, and so does the sound of the fridge closing. I shift my eyes around the room to make it seem as if I don't really want to be here. Well, I don't. But I make sure that the moment they land on Eliza, they spend more than just a second on her.

She is already looking at me, but she switches between me and him, in a surprisingly non subtle way.

"That's nice," I eventually say, as I notice the long pause I had just taken, which everybody considered as the time for my response.

"Yeah, he's always been good to her. I'm trying to get them back together," Rosanne continues, causing my leg hairs to stand up.

"Mom," Eliza blankly replies, as her and Cooper share a look of similar discomfort.

"What? I'm just telling the truth. You guys were always good together. And he, uh... Scrubs up well." She finishes her sentence with a look of distaste on her face, directed at me. Cooper notices this and produces a girly laugh, which simultaneously happens the same moment my fists begin to clench.

He suddenly looks back up again, his facial expressions going into overdrive before he finally settles on one. "Is that my tracksuit?" He asks, eyeing my outfit up and down, a feeling of embarrassment automatically wavering through my body.

"Um... Eliza said I could. I don't have any of my own."

"He's homeless," Rosanne bluntly states, causing my humiliation to increase. I don't need anymore comparisons brought into the air leading to the conclusion of why this Cooper guy is so much better than me.

"Sorry, Coop. Your clothes were already here, so I just thought-"

"Nah it's fine. If he needs it, he needs it." Cooper responds, staring at me with a look of laughable pity in his eyes. I take that as my cue to leave, before I suddenly forget to keep my clenched fists to myself.

"I'll just go," I say, but then regret it instantly, as I know they don't care. My throat clogs up, and I feel as if the air has been sucked out of the room and out of my body. Rosanne's personality has become a norm to me now, nothing she says surprises me anymore. Mr Hair Grease should really spend more time using his vocal cords to ask his hairdresser for a better parting. But I realise that I have gained a scary dependency on Eliza. I expected her to stick up for me, something past the monosyllabic "mom"she did, but I expected something. Like she's always done for me. But she didn't stick up for me. And that scares me. She spent her time juggling her eyes between me and her goofy ex, and that scares me too. Because it means that he is probably making his way up to being her current, which instantaneously makes Rosanne's wish come true. But it crushes all my wishes into little particles that get blown away by the unforgiving wind.